before our eyes and it's all about the numbers. mitt romney is working to regain ground. barack obama is pouring millions of dollars into ads to steal the deal. voters are heading to the polls in two dozen states and both sides are bracing for the unexpected, especially when it comes to the economy. and that's with less than six weeks left. if the election were held today, what would we expect, jeff? >> if the election would be held today and it is, it is a question that governor romney's campaign dismissed saying it is not being held today. i was in iowa yesterday, thousands of people have voted in almost at the end of this month, 30 states will have voted. if the election was today, president obama has command. in battleground states from nevada, up to new hampshire and down to florida in nine battle ground states, the president is in command of this race and that's not an assessment of the polls, although he has an advantage in the polls but republicans in the romney campaign as well. that doesn't mean this race is over. there are a lot of things can happen. the debate next week. t

. mitt romney goes firstndets ady toakgehi at bill clinton's global giving conference. what will the former president have to say about the presidential hopeful? we will hear fro both of them in minutes. >>> meanwhile, blocks away, presidenobama getseady to addressnited nations over an ho fro he gng the low-key no news drop-by that his team was hoping for? he is getting heat making time for "the view" but not fellow leaders. a big tim in missouri d a ehe senate race he has to do it by 5:00 p.m. today. if not, it's on to november but the yemt battled congressman shows no sign of dropping out. good morning from new york. it's tuesday, september 25th, 12 mhud live outside of the new york public library, nbc's occasieducation nation su behi me. coming up, will show you live pictures and monitoring and waiting for bill clinton to introduce mitt romney at his global giving conference and when that happens, we will take it to you live and give you a ttle bit of mitt romney's remarks. he is presenting an intriguing plan of a pubc private partnershiwhen itomo th my guesss won't get taken out

suggest a possible turning point. president obama's once narrow lead over mitt romney has now widened considerably. in ohio, the president has moved out to a 10 point lead. ohio is traditional been key to any republican presidential victory. in florida, which is another crucial state for the gop, the president is now up by 9 points. in pennsylvania, the president is ahead by 12 points. the polls were conducted in the past week for the "new york times" and cbs news. what's caused this surge in the polls and why does the president seem to be pulling away? ktvu's ken wayne is live in san francisco with some answers to that, and also why this first debate next week is so critical. >> reporter: frank issue number 1 is the economy. many americans believe it's heading in the right direction. mitt romney has been relentlessly pounding president obama about the economy. he did it again today in ohio. >> i don't believe we can afford four more years like the past four years. >> maybe they haven't been happy the last four years. maybe they were disappointed with obama, but generally, they think

of the union with candy crowley starts right now. >>> romney's chance to shake things up may come down to four and a half hours. >>> today this week's denver debate. the first of three 09-minute faceoffs. obama versus romney. >> how is it that you're the expert on my position when my position has been very clear? i'll tell you -- >> i'm the expert. i'm the expert, and i'm -- >> when he suggests that senator obama's plan is dangerous -- >> that's not the case. what he said was a precipitous withdrawal would be dangerous. he did not say -- >> he said -- >> sizing up the showdown with a man who has debated both 2012 candidates republican senator john mccain, and then the risk of being the frontrunner with obama's senior advisor david axelrod. plus, polls, ads, and early voting. with republican strategist alex castellanos, and cinderella and congressional correspondent dana bash. i'm candy crowley. this is "state of the union." >>> it would not be debate season if the political world and the campaigns didn't play the expectations game. >> the president is obviously a very eloquent, gi

once narrow lead over mitt romney has now widened considerably. in ohio, the president has moved out to a 10 point lead. ohio is traditional been key to any republican presidential victory. in florida, which is another crucial state for the gop, the president is now up by 9 points. in pennsylvania, the president is ahead by 12 points. the polls were conducted in the past week for the "new york times" and cbs news. what's caused this surge in the polls and why does the president seem to be pulling away? ktvu's ken wayne is live in san francisco with some answers to that, and also why this first debate next week is so critical. >> reporter: frank issue number 1 is the economy. many americans believe it's heading in the right direction. mitt romney has been relentlessly pounding president obama about the economy. he did it again today in ohio. >> i don't believe we can afford four more years like the past four years. >> maybe they haven't been happy the last four years. maybe they were disappointed with obama, but generally, they think we're on the right path. >> reporter: we found peop

means for jobs. jan crawford and nancy cordes with the president at the romney in ohio promoting free trade. jeff glor on the call that every football fan is talking about. >> it was awful. that's all i'm going to say about it. >> pelley: and these images helped change america. >> how could you not ask the question "what ever happened to that kid?" >> pelley: seth doane with the man who uncovered the stories behind the faces. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. six weeks before an election that may turn on the state of the economy, a new survey out today finds that americans are feeling better about things. consumer confidence is at its highest level in seven months, largely because more americans expect the jobs picture to improve. but confidence is still at what's considered a weak level. home values are increasing. another report out today says prices in 20 major cities rose 1.6% in july. that's the fourth straight increase. but prices are still 30% below where they were before the housing bubble burst. stock portfo

three days before the first presidential debate. >> most believe it will be a crucial night for romney. >> president obama and arrived today in nevada for three bang days of what campaign -- three days of what campaign aides are calling debate camp. >> i believe in you. i ask you to keep on believing in me. >> the president and romney will hunker down over the next few days as they huddled with senior advisers to prepare for the showdown in denver. in recent days, campaigns have been bending over backward to complement their opponents and downplay expectations. new jersey governor chris christie said a high bar for romney. >> this is the first moment when the american people can see these two guys by side, letting out their visions unfiltered. i think that will be a powerful moment for mitt romney. >> obama senior advisers said they are preparing. >> they have been practicing for months. i am sure they will have a lot of clever lines, but that is not the american people are looking for. >> abc news political analyst matt dowd says advisors are emphasizing style over substance. >> debat

." (laughter and applause) sad. sad. sad. (applause) folks, mitt romney has been dogged all week by his handling of the libya crisis. but yesterday the romney people shifted gears to change the game. >> there is a push by the romney campaign to refocus, to somehow reset. they want to really change the focus. >> stephen: well, i'm happy to say that by last night no one was focused on libya anymore. (applause) >> mitt romney is in damage control after a magazine revealed a secret video showing him making some controversial comments about americans. >> it's now raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign. >> this tape has shaken the romney campaign to say the least. >> stephen: shaken to say the least. vomiting blood to say the most. (laughter) but still no libya. (applause) okay, that's a victory. now, folks, here's what happened. way back in may mitt spoke at a $50,000 a plate fund-raiser at the boca raton home of private equity management marc leder who is best known for throwing some wild parties including one in the hamptons last summer where guests cavorted nude in a po

: tonight, new trouble for the romney campaign, get ready for the rafalka sex tape. (laughter) and a major legal victory for apple. but it will be replaced with a faster, slimmer legal victory in six months. (laughter) then, my guest, jeffrey toobin is here to talk about obama's relationship with the supreme court. i hear it's under the robe; over the gavel. (laughter) wal-mart is turning 50 years old. it's finally old enough to be a greeter at itself. (laughter) this is "the colbert report." captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) . >> stephen: whoo! whoo! whoo! come on! (audience chanting "stephen") folks-- (audience chanting "stephen"). (cheers and applause) folks, folks, i've got to tell you, no matter-- sometimes i think the world is a dark cave, but you are always my light at the end of the tunnel. (laughter) welcome to th to the "report," everybody. thank you for joining us. nation, i have always hated change. that's why i'm solidly against transformers, shrinky-dinks and air caterpillars. (laughter) and don't tell me you've always felt

is out with a new ad, it takes aim at romney's experience at bain capital, spotlighting workers who said they lost their jobs because governor romney was more concerned about short-term profits than creating jobs. >> people need to know what mitt romney did to miriam, indiana, in 1994. >> you don't just come in and take everything everybody's got and destroy a business. i mean, that's what they did. >> when you take away all the good-paying jobs such as we had here at gst steel in kansas city, the middle class is going to become extinct. >> neither obama nor romney have public events scheduled for today, but vice president joe biden and paul ryan were both on the trail. the vice president was in florida this morning, ryan is in new hampshire and is traveling to ohio for an event tonight. we will, of course, have more on all of these stories over the next two hours. in case you have not heard, the countdown is on to colorado. even though both campaigns are playing the lowered expectations game, you can bet their furiously preparing for the denver debate. joining me now to talk about

feelings about governor mitt romney. >> we'd expect it all along that governor romney will have a good night. he's prepared more than any candidate in history and shown himself to be a good debater through the years. >> even the candidates were tamping down expectations yesterday. >> i don't think anyone would suggest the debates aren't important. i can't tell you how important it will be. i don't know what will happen at the debates. >> governor romney is a good debater. i'm just okay. >> the soft performance has gotten so soft it's almost evaporated. but while almost everyone seems to be muting enthusiasm in trying to undersell new jersey governor chris christie is taking a different tack. overselling with gusto. >> come thursday morning, the entire narrative of this race is going to change. we have a candidate that is going to do extraordinarily well on wednesday night. when we get to thursday morning george, you're going to be shaking your head saying it's a brand new race with 33 days to go. >> governor christie right in the sense that romney needs to change the dynamic of the rac

numbers that are really bearing down on the gop nominee. these are mitt romney's likability numbers in six key battleground stat states. topping our political headlines, mitt romney going after president obama on foreign policy today. in his weekly podcast, romney said the president is fumbling his response to events in the middle east. >> this week, when president obama was asked about the recent disruption and chaos and violence in the middle east, he said that these were merely bumps in the road. that casual assessment of shocking events reveals that the president really doesn't understand the gravity of the challenges that we face in the broader middle east. >> meanwhile, the obama campaign is out with a new ad, it takes aim at romney's experience at bain capital, spotlighting workers who said they lost their jobs because governor romney was more concerned about short-term profits than creating jobs. >> people need to know what mitt romney did to miriam, indiana, in 1994. >> you don't just come in and take everything everybody's got and destroy a business. i mean, that's what they

battleground colorado. can a solid performance at the denver debate help mitt romney change the perceptions and boost his poll numbers? >>> and the expectations game isn't slowing down one bit. both sides say the other side was one of the most gifted debate performers in the history of mankind. so if they're both right, then this should be a heck of a night on wednesday, shouldn't they? lincoln douglas, watch out. >>> plus at the brink, a special nbc news report from all across the middle east, afghanistan, iran, syria, as multiple situations grow more dangerous da, what challenges face this president and whoever takes office in january? >>> good morning from washington. it's monday, october 1st, 2012. this is the daily rundown. i'm chuck todd. one more rundown. let's get to the rundown. mitt romney need as great october to change the course of this campaign. for your him it had to begin wednesday night in denver. romney had just a rough three weeks. he's had a rough three months. you could argue that romney hasn't, quote, won a month in this campaign since may or june. a traili

romney. debate subject area, domestic policy. debate moderator, jim lara. structure, six 15-minute segment. three focus on the economy, four, five, and six health care, the role of government and governing. procedure, each candidate gets two minutes to respond to a question posed by jim lara. time remaining is given to freewheeling discussion of segments. risk factor, dangerous, sometimes lethal. ♪ [music] ♪ >> are you better off than you were four years ago? is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? is america as respected throughout the world as it was? do you feel that our security is as safe, that we're as strong as we were four years ago? if you answer all of those questions yes, why then i think your choice is obvious as to who you'll vote for. if you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then i could suggest another choice that you have. >

in ohio as a new poll shows that the romney team is losing ground. today is all about foreign policy. mitt romney is speaking at the initiative, the d nations.at the unite olabanji is in the news from with the latest on both. mitt romney and president toma are speaking audiences in new city, both commenting on the middle east, including iran and syria. a lot of americans, including myself, are troubled by developments in the middle east. mitt romney took a serious issuesm stance on borders, especially in thelence and unrest east peace said that he struggling aid to nations in hopes that things there would improve. >> we will couple eight with investment and to empowers individuals, encourage innovators, and reward entrepreneurs. >> at the united nations, obama spoke about events in the middle east and film thatat the anti-u.s. protests. >> there are no words that the killing of innocents. his new video that justifies an attack on an embassy. -- there is no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. both parties know that issues are ones many voters will be paying to, but the econo

welcome. the polls show that mitt romney is trailing. how do you explain that and is that true. >> you know, paul i don't pay a lot of attention to polls because it depends on what they take and the sample. these guys have been in ohio and they should start paying income tax. this thing is as close can be they both wouldn't be here. i expect this to go down to the wire. we are always a swing state. it will be very close. >> paul: so the democrats are saying one of big things that is helping the spent the auto bailout. is that how you lead to to help the president? >> look, we're up 123,000 jobs over the last year and three-quarters. we're actually according to the bureau of labor statistics down 500 jobs, auto jobs in ohio. the situation. chrysler has expanded and ford and gm have shrunk their footprint but we stabilizing. auto industry out here. of the 123,000 jobs, most of them, biggest categories are business services and healthcare. we are having specialty manufacturing rebounds but it's hard to argue in fact the bureau of labor statistics we are down net 500 jobs you can a

what it takes to get this economy going. >> shepard: president obama and governor romney each back in the buckeye state with just days to go until the first votes are cast. and ♪ ♪ moon river ♪ wider than a mile. >> shepard: tonight, saying good by to the legendary crooner andy williams. first from fox this wednesday night the president of iran is back in the country he says the united states is in cahoots with the devil and israelis are uncivillized. now the world is reacting to mahmoud ahmadinejad's latest anti-west rhetoric today at the united nations. the president of ahmadinejad took the podium at the u.n. general assembly and while his speech was not as fiery as some of those in the past, he still did say his vision of the world's future does not include the united states or israel. listen. >> the koran -- situation of the world better incident of history humanely iran's management of the world and the self-proclaim sensors of power who have entrusted themselves to the devil. >> shepard: just yesterday the iranian president called israel a fake regime that needs to be e

obama and governor mitt romney were slugging it out again today on the campaign trail, both of them in the battleground state of ohio. and both of them mindful of the need to turn out younger voters, who went overwhelmingly for mr. obama in 2008, but who are proving more elusive this year. i traveled to the columbus area this past weekend ahead of the candidates to find out just how elusive. >> fired up! ready to go! >> woodruff: ohio state university students about to head out from an obama campaign office to register voters, yell a familiar refrain. >> fired up! ready to go! >> woodruff: they are a coveted voting block for the president, in this fiercely contested swing state. four years ago, mr. obama won 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide by 66% to 32%. a margin so large, young people were credited with putting him over the top in several key states. >> are you registered to vote? >> woodruff: surveys suggest he's sure to capture the majority of the youngest voter block again. but after four years of watching the president grapple with the realities of governing, they're not expected t

mitt romney means when he says he's harvesting companies. >>> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> and the guy who has no idea wh htag t i comes to women has the nerve to call senator claire mccaskill unladylike. we'll bring you the latest on the todd akin disaster. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thank for watching. wa kked f 20 eltion in january. today it was the first state where people could cast their votes in person for the general election. the race is on. the race has been tight in iowa, but president obama has the momentum. the latest ten-day poll avere frreleols"ws president obama with nearly a five-point lead. iowa voters were out in full force starting at 7:00 this morning. one election commissioner sa this could be a record-breaking year. this was by far the busiest opening day we've had in the ten yes i' beein oe. erin 1eoe. 100 would have been a good number. that's what it was four years ago. we're well past that. we'rnot to noon yet. >> look at the early voting numbers from 2008 to see how big a record

from the race. members of his own party, including presidential candidate, mitt romney, are urging him to withdraw. it's the result of an interview where women can shut down the whole thing in order to avoid pregnancy. not everyone is distancing themselves from aiken, including newt gingrich. >> i don't see how any national republican and good conscious after tomorrow has any choice except to say, the choice is the republican nominee where senator mccaskill, i am for the republican nominee. >> aiken apologized for the rape comment before the controversial interview. missouri was considered a likely republican win. polls now show democratic incumbent has the advantage in another development, a powerful conservative pack said today, okay, things have changed. we reconsidering withholding funds. he's getting more support. >> still to come on 9news now, all gave some, some gave all. a local community salutes pow's and mia's from the vietnam era. >>> president obama is calling on world leaders at the u.n. to address the tensions that are growing between the west and the middle east. the

straight as many as 5,000 mines in case of an israeli attack. >> obama and romney are zeroing in on ohio. their paths will cross as they rally support. the president at bowling green state university and kent state university. meanwhile romney continues his bus tour through three cities. he will attend three rallies and and hold a manufacturing roundtable. obama is ahead by 7 percent in the polls. >>> two tornadoes ripping through towns in illinois. this one touched down near opaville. through this semi on to its side. two people taken to the hospital. a couple barns were completely demolished. >> it was just raining it started pouring down rain and then it started hailing. then everybody, it was just a mess. >> right down the road over the over pass. the barn and house got tore up. >> we are only a few days into fall, but look at this. that's what you think it is. some people in colorado skipping right into winter snow falling into the mountains. ski areas got several inches. but it won't last. the weather is supposed to warm up by this weekend. >>> the wrong team still wins. they uphol

♪ ♪ everybody. ♪ ♪ >> cenk: welcome to "the young turks." we're going to break down mitt romney on 60 minutes. >> i can tell the american people specifically what my policy looks like. >> cenk: i'll show you how he is lying. done miss that and then i talked to joy behar today about how mitt romney is trying to run away from her, and she is actually complementing anymore a lot of ways. >> joy: if you are going to be turned on by republicans i would prefer him and scott brown so let's say nixon. >> cenk: oh really? and then some republican has finally come to akin's legitimate rape rescue. >> my expectation would be in the crunch in october, governor romney is going to be for the entire ticket. >> cenk: good to see newt is back in the race. the whole show is fun. that's why it's go time. [♪ theme music ♪] >> this was the defining week. >> does romney believe the things that he says? >> if you don't learn from experience and your mistakes why, you ought to be fired. >> he seems to have only one note, tax cuts for the wealthy. >> it will be the haven for capitol formation. >> you c

se polls, but atth other polls,, polls go up, polls go down. >> this week on "inside mitt romney's ride. the fight for ohio. >> you may haveot noticed that there is an election going on. >> we are going to win in ohio. >> the foreign pololicy debate. >> i was pretty surgeon and ntinue to be certain ththat in the road. bumps >> "bumps in the road"? had an ambassador assassinated. rare bipartisan agreement >> did you guys watch that packers game last night? break. ve me a it is timeme to get the real re. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> it has been a rough couple of weeks for mitt romney. the president has opened up leads and a battleground states , wisconsin, florida, colorado. thewould have thought that of an ambassadorr libya, attacks on embassies would havele east, offed mitt romney a golden to reframe the he can seem to get their. politico began a piece on fririy us what the probl not clint etwood and chair, the 47% video, media bias mitt.co says it is judge for yourself. >> quite a guy. paul ryan, isn't that something? ryan! ryan! >> with a s

ohio. president obama is leading in the polls but can mitt romney turn it around? we'll ask john kasich. just call him the 10% president. that is what he spiax responsibility for the deficit and libya is still raising more questions for the white house. it could have been stopped? >> paul: welcome to the journal editorial report. i'm paul gigot. you'll eyes were on ohio this week as they both hit the buckeye state hard. hoping to put 18 electoral votes in their col >> paul: politics poll real lot of attention to polls because it depends on what they take and the sample. these guys have been in ohio and they should start paying income tax. this thing is as close can be they both wouldn't be here. i expect this to go down to the wire. we are always a swing state. it will be very close. >> paul: so the democrats are saying one of big things that is helping the spent the auto bailout. is that how you lead to to help the president? >> look, we're up 123,000 jobs over the last year and three-quarters. we're actually according to the bureau of labor statistics down 500 jobs, auto jobs i

hd massachusetts moderate with shaky credentials has been uneasy about which shade of romney will show up to govern the white house. but those doubts all but evaporated, and i quote . . . here to discuss who is really eric bates, executive editor of "rollingstone" magazine. thanks for joining us. >> thank for having me. >> eliot: mitt romney did in fact -- the morph that destroyed him from moderate sensible creatable intellect to far-right stooge, how did he done that. >> we decided he would go to the far right, pose as a severe conservative, and then somehow magically shake the etch-a-sketch and come back to center. >> eliot: if he had been smarter and more nimble he would have said you know i'm going to etch-a-sketch, but he stuck to the far right and showed himself at the end of the day to approximate completely spineless. >> all along people have been saying who is the real mitt romney? how will we know what he really stands for? and i think the moment that was cemented into place was when he picked paul ryan. there was a lot of argument for him to pick centerist like pall lea

obama looks good. that does not stick but it does not matter for them. why the romney campaign does not leave a minute to spare. air and i was startled by the numbers but they need to get the ads out and fast? >> look at i would this week the obama campaign says more than 100,000 ballots are from democrats versus 40,000 republicans. the obama campaign will hit them again and again. neil: i don't know the record but generally it is reflective of the moment look at the polls in favor the president. if you are mitt romney you don't have the moment to spare. >> you need to make a move quick. early voters are the hard partisans mostly the vote will not change voting today universe sixth. as strong as the president's early voting program is as he invented the wheel so does the romney campaign and track it thoroughly. i expected to be competitive if he loses it is not due to the early voting program. but can he get ads on the ear pressed up to compete with the obama onslaught? neil: at the convention nassau lot of obama adds running six slate -- six /1. but they did seize the early initiat

primary i believed fervently in the exact opposite of what i told cbs' skoept" romney, which is also a terrible nickname. >> look, it doesn't make sense for us to have millions and millions of people have no health insurance and yet who can go to the emergency room and get entirely free care for which they have no responsibility. when they show up at the hospital, they get care, they get free care paid for by you and me. if that's not a form of socialism, i don't know what is. (laughter) >> jon: the uninsured being cared for in emergency rooms is irresponsible and socialist and i am totally cool that. (laughter) that's how your state wants to deal with it. you see, whatever his missteps are as a candidate barack obama is surging in the polls because the closer we get to the election it is dumber mitt romney appears to be getting. (cheers and applause) here he is touting his economic plan-- settle down. really? is that how you want to win this thing? (laughter) the other guy just tears his a.c.l., is that how you want to win? (laughter) here's romney touting his economic plan at

policy. you can't base an effective policy on delusion. >> you have been an advisor to romney campaign, how could a new president change this? >> you can't dig out of a hole quickly. i think it's got to be made clear to all the governments we do note accept their failure to protect our people. i think we have to have substantial increased intelligence throughout the region. we have to show to everybody that we still believe that there is a war on terror. certainly the terrorists haven't stopped. and we're going to stop some of the main sources of it, iranian funding of terrorists and others. >> you are a diplomat. you have been an ambassador for many years. what does it mean to you when chris stevens is murdered in cold blood? >> it's a terrible tragedy. it shows the vulnerability of americans out on point in a variety of different places. we focus on our service members and well we should because so many of them have paid the ultimate sacrifice. many other americans, contractors and government employees are just as much as risk. that is why the view people hold of america in